Mop wringer



Aug. 2 19 69 T- 1.. ABBOTT MOP WRINGER v Filed April 19} 1968 United States Patent Face 3,462,788 MOP WRINGER Tom L. Abbott, R0. Box 155, Whiteface, Tex. 79379 Filed Apr. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 722,669 Int. Cl. A471 13/14, 13/12, 13/58 US. Cl. 15-119 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A perforated sleeve is mounted for sliding up and down a mop handle. The mop head fits loosely within the sleeve when the mop head is drawn thereinto. To wring, the mop handle is pushed down, the water being removed from the mop head by pressure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to cleaning and scrubbing and more particularly to devices to extract water from a mop.

Description of the prior art In most domestic use, mops are wrung dry by grasping the mop head with one hand and handle with the other hand and wringing the mop dry by a twisting motion upon the mop.

Yamashita, US. Patent 3,364,512, discloses a simple sleeve which fits over the mop, however, Yamashita discloses the shield as being flexible so that the shield is grasped with the hand to wring the mop, therefore, shielding the hand from the harsh chemicals often used as detergents for mopping.

Commercially on the market are different attachments made for buckets having two rollers which operate by a foot pedal so that the mop head can be pulled between the rollers to extract the water.

Similarly, it has been suggested that these devices be mounted upon the mop handle and that the mop be wrung dry with rollers which are mounted on the mop handle.

Morgan, U.S. Patent 1,751,349, discloses a sleeve which is mounted on the mop handle, however, the sleeve fits very tightly over the mop head and the mop dried by pulling the mop up into the sleeve.

Zieschang, US. Patent 1,426,440, discloses a rather complex, complicated structure which is somewhat similar in operation to that disclosed here. However, his shield or sleeve is not perforated and he complicates the invention by including an unnecessary bottom against which the water is extracted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is for an extremely simple and extremely inexpensive perforated sleeve in which the mop head will fit loosely. Actually there is no wringing action when the head is drawn into the sleeve. With the mop in the sleeve, the sleeve is placed against an external structure and the mop is then pushed straight down in the sleeve, thereby extracting the water from the head. I have found that the mop can be wrung dry enough under water for ordinary use.

Conveniently, the mop sleeve is made of a synthetic resin commonly and herein referred to as plastic.

An object of this invention is to extract water from mops.

Another object is to achieve the above with a device that is sturdy, compact, durable, simple, safe, lightweight, reliable and efiicient, yet inexpensive and easy to manufacture, install and operate.

3,462,788 Patented Aug. 26, 1969 DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top-plan view of a device according to this invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the device of FIG. 1 partially broken away to show construction.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the device.

FIG. 4 shows the device on a mop in the first step of operation where the mop is being rinsed in a sink.

FIG. 5 shows the second step of operation where the sleeve of the device is being pulled over the mop head.

FIG. 6 shows the third step of operation where the mop is being pushed downward in the sleeve with the sleeve against one edge of the sink to extract water from the mop.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the mop head and sleeve in the second step of operation of the sleeve being pushed down over the mop.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the third step of the mop being pushed down to extract water.

FIG. 9 shows the mop head retracted into the sleeve and showing a mop bucket in section with a special stand in the mop bucket to use in connection with the operation of the invention.

FIG. 10 is an elevational view of a modified device having a rectangular sleeve to be used with a mop having a rectangular head.

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Sleeve 10 is made of plastic, although it readily could be made of sheet metal. The main criteria are that it should:

(a) have enough rigidity to hold its own shape,

(b) be light in weight so as not to bother the user in handling the mop in cleaning the floors, yet

(c) be strong enough to withstand the pressure without splitting when wringing the mop.

At the top the cylindrical tube or sleeve 10 is closed with top 11. Handle 12 is attached to the top 11. The handle 12 has a cylindrical bore 14 extending through it, also, the outside of the handle 12 has finger grips 13. The entire sleeve 10, top 11 and handle 12 could be molded intricately from plastic or handle 12 could be molded separately and attached to the top 11 after construction (as illustrated in FIG. 1). The top 12 also has an internal flange 15 for making a good frictional grip or contact with handle 17 of the mop.

The sleeve 10 has at least one perforation 16 at the top to permit the air to escape as the mop head 19 is pulled within the sleeve in operation. In the lower portion of the sleeve are a plurality of holes 18 for the water exit when the mop is being wrung out. As may be seen, the perforations 18 extend for at least one-half the length of the sleeve 10. The sleeve is imperforate between the uppermost of the perforations 18 and the perforations 16.

Referring to a typical operation, the mop will be rinsed in water within sink 20 with the sleeve 10 pulled away from the mop head 19 well upon the mop handle 17 (FIG. 4). Thereafter in step two (FIG. 5) the operator grasps the handle 17 of the mop with one hand and the handle 12 with the other hand and pulls the sleeve down over the mop head 19 as is shown by the arrows. Thereafter the operator grasps handle 17 with both hands and places the end of the sleeve 10 against the edge of the sink and pushes the mop handle 17 toward the sleeve 10, as illustrated by the arrows (FIG. 6).

The consequence upon the mop head 19 is more clearly seen in FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 illustrates (by an arrow) the mop handle 17 moving upward, while sleeve 10 is being pulled downward (shown by arrows) over the mop head 19. FIG. 8 shows the mop handle 17 being rammed downward in sleeve 10 resting against the bottom of sink 22. In this instant the sink 22 is shown without any water therein. However, by experience I have found that even if there is water in the sink 22 as there was in sink 20, when mop head 19 is compressed within the sleeve 1'0 that there will not be sufiicient flow back through the perforations 18 to rewet the mop to the extent that it can not be used even though it has been wrung out under water.

It will be noted that after the mop is wrung dry that the mop is moved away from the external support of the sink 20 and then the tube 10 is retracted on the handle to operating position allowing the mop head 19 to be shaken free.

FIG. 9 shows the same sleeve 10 with its handle 12 upon mop handle 17. However, in this instance it is being used in mop bucket 24 with a special internal stand 26. The stand 26 has a perforated support 28 above the water in the bucket 24 so that the end of the tube or sleeve 10 can be placed against this perforation to wring the water from it. In such cases where it is desirable to get the mop extremely dry, mop stand 26 is desirable, but as previously mentioned, is not absolutely essential.

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate a modification, showing rectangular sleeve 110 for use with a mop having normal handle 117, but having a rectangular mop head 119. It will be noted that the sleeves 10 and 110 are not tapered. i. e., sleeve 10 is cylindrical having the same cross sectional area at the top as at the bottom. This is desirable because if the bottom is substantially larger than the top, it may be seen in FIG. 8 that the proper water extraction will not result when the mop handle 17 is rammed downward. Although sleeve 110 is rectangular, its cross sectional area does not change appreciably from top to bottom. Obviously in modem casting technology there may be a slight taper from top to bottom for the benefit of molding the sleeve, but except for whatever taper or draft may be necessary for economical casting or manufacture, there is no change in the cross sectional area. There must be a correlation between the shape of the sleeve 10 and and the mop head 19 or 119. If the mop head 19 is circular in cross section, the sleeve 10 must be circular in cross section so that the mop fits loosely, but somewhat snug, within the sleeve 10. If the mop head 119 is rectangular, the sleeve 110 must be made rectangular also so that the mop head will fit loosely, but snugly, therein.

I claim as my invention:

1. On a mop having (a) a handle and (b) a mop head, of circular cross section,

(c) the improved wringer therefor comprising:

(d) a tubular cylindrical sleeve of circular cross section having substantially the same cross sectional area at the top as the bottom, and having (e) a top thereto,

(f) a handle attached to the top,

(g) said handle having an inside diameter which snugly fits the handle of the mop, thus forming a frictional fit therewith,

(h) said tubular sleeve having a plurality of perforations extending approximately one-half the length of said sleeve from the bottom thereof,

(j) the tubular sleeve loosely fittting over the mop head, so that the sleeve may be telescoped over the mop head, and the mop handle rammed downward compressing the mop head within the lower confines of the sleeve to extract the water from the mop head, and,

(k) air escape opening means adjacent the top of the sleeve for the escape of air when the mop is being drawn within it, the sleeve between the air escape opening means and the uppermost of the perforations being imperforate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,028,025 1/1936 Smith 15-119 2,962,032 11/1960 Reuter 15-184 XR 3,151,475 10/1964 Johnson 15120 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 637,864 5/1928 France.

13,540 8/1904 Great Britain. 7,966 4/1908 Great Britain.

155,174 5/1920 Great Britain.

185,941 9/1922 Great Britain.

368,627 3/1932 Great Britain.

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 1 5260 

